I did think Starks did play decently earlier in the year (certainly as well or better than Colon has, who is a big disappointment this year, seems to me). I think his Miami performance is harder to judge, but at least he seemed to make decent decisions (when to help a double-team, when to take on an edge blitzer).

And I agree with you on Simmons. Frustrating watching him, because at times he looks like Dermontti Dawsom (forgive the blasphemy) on the pull but then gets tossed aside easily other times.

And again, it wasn't that I was disagreeing with everyone about Simmons, just that since even though I try to watch the O-linemen, I don't get a good read on them on many plays, and it seems like Simmons isn't our biggest problem.

One more point, regarding the recent rash of sacks: Either our O-line really is terrible, or teams have figured out how to deal with Ben's tendency to hold the ball and wait for the wide-open guy down field. It could be a scheme thing. (Then again, the terrible run-blocking is as much a concern as the pass-blocking.)

Starks had another above average game last night. I wish more and more than we hadn't thrown all that stupid coin at Simmons. Starks may be a better investment... and guessing on two lineman may be more than we can take cap-wise.

Starks becomes a really important option when the next guy in line is Trai Essex.

Certainly Simmons can pull way better than Kemo, and keeping him in helps the Steelers to use all of their running play options. But he ends up being such a liability in pass-pro and straight line blocking that it's an overall liability.

It isn't that Simmons is worse than, say, Todd Fordham. He does a few things well. It's just that on more than a few plays, he looks just stunningly bad, and I can't quite figure out whether he is clueless, or whether the playcall is asking Simmons to do something that is beyond him.

And, the fact is the past two games were perfect for him weather-wise. didn't have to worry about a speed rush and could use his size and power to his advantage. We might not see the same success in a dome.

And, the fact is the past two games were perfect for him weather-wise. didn't have to worry about a speed rush and could use his size and power to his advantage. We might not see the same success in a dome.

Bingo on the conditions. I have been very impressed with Starks the last two weeks, and I hope to god that it is him actually playing well. However, I really do agree that field turf may exploit his weaknesses again. The speed rush is Max Starks' nemesis. He isn't a big fan of it. He hates the speed rush. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being him hating the speed rush, and 10 him loving it, he is definitely around a 1.9. According to my calculations, so give or take a little.

Logged

"Now that I'm here, I don't want to just be here, I want to be here for a long time." Hines Ward, 1998 3rd round draft pick.